Chinese companies are in talks to snap up more businesses and land in Pakistan after sealing two major deals in recent months, a sign of deepening ties after Beijing vowed to plough $57 billion into a new trade route across the South Asian nation.

A dozen executives from some of Pakistan's biggest firms told Reuters that Chinese companies were looking mainly at the cement, steel, energy and textile sectors, the backbone of Pakistan's $270 billion economy.

Analysts say the interest shows Chinese firms are using Beijing's "One Belt, One Road" project - a global trade network of which Pakistan is a key part - to help expand abroad at a time when growth has slowed at home.